Time required to start a business in Nigeria

Nigeria: Time required to start a business was 7.2 days in 2019. ▼ Falling

Latest (2019)
7.2 days
Change on year
down 33.9%
World rank
139th
of 188 countries
All-time high
30.3 days
in 2013
All-time low
7.2 days
in 2019
Years of data
7
2013–2019

Time required to start a business in Nigeria, 2013–2019

510152025302013201620192013: 30.3 days2014: 30.3 days2015: 30.3 days2016: 24.9 days2017: 18.9 days2018: 10.9 days2019: 7.2 days

Source: Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in days.

Analysis

The most recent figure for time required to start a business in Nigeria is 7.2 days, measured in 2019. That is the lowest value across all 7 years on record.

The figure is down 33.9% on the previous year and down 76.2% over ten years.

Nigeria ranks 139th of 188 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 138 Sweden 7.5 days compare
  2. 140 Democratic Republic of Congo 7 days compare
  3. 140 Hungary 7 days compare
  4. 140 Myanmar 7 days compare
  5. 140 Sao Tome and Principe 7 days compare
  6. 140 Serbia 7 days compare
  7. 140 Tajikistan 7 days compare
  8. 140 Turkey 7 days compare

See the full ranking of 188 places →

More reference data data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is time required to start a business in Nigeria?
Time required to start a business in Nigeria was 7.2 days in 2019, according to Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest time required to start a business recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 30.3 days in 2013.
What is the lowest time required to start a business recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 7.2 days in 2019.
How does Nigeria rank for time required to start a business?
Nigeria ranks 139th out of 188 countries with data for 2019.
Is time required to start a business rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is down 76.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Nigeria data come from?
The figures come from Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Time required to start a business. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 7 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Time required to start a business
Unit
days
Source
Doing Business project, World Bank (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
188 places, 2,945 data points, 2003–2019
Last refreshed

Number of calendar days needed to complete the procedures to legally operate a business.